# whats the big deal with the word "toilet" in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2009, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329 "2009-06-29T10:55:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/61 "2009-06-29T21:06:02Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > When I visited Spain, I found they used different words in different regions. Granada, Ronda: lavabos. Barcelona, Nerja, Sevilla: servicios. Granada, Ronda, Nerja and Seville are all in Andalusia. Are you sure the difference is regional and not just random? Another odd word used in Spain is aseos. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/62 "2009-06-29T21:23:33Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I really don’t think it caused any offense. I just think the person you asked was thinking, “Where’s the toilet? It’s in the bathroom. Next to the sink. Duh!” but was too polite to say it. I agree with this. If someone asked me “where’s your refrigerator?” when they wanted to know where my kitchen was, I’d probably be a bit taken aback by the odd way they phrased the question. “Where’s your toilet” is simply an unusual way to ask in the US, because we don’t call the entire room the toilet. But for what it’s worth, my grandmother’s guest bathroom (in southern California) has a dainty little ceramic plaque with roses on it that says “toilet” in hand-lettered calligraphy. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/63 "2009-06-29T21:37:19Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > Nobody yet has mentioned “WC” . This seems to be fairly common on the continent of Europe, and is a sort of pictogram that can be understood by most people, irregardless of their nationality. The West Coast? – that’s a heck of a long way to go! I don’t think I could wait that long. [QUOTE=Zsofia] My parents’ has an electrical outlet in there - always wondered exactly what you’d plug in in the tiny little toilet room. [/QUOTE] Because the National Electrical Code requires at least one outlet in each room. (Actually, there are exceptions, but it’s easier to just install the outlet than to try to explain that to a local inspector.) ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/64 "2009-06-29T21:49:27Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > I’m trying to understand “toilet” is not in any way a swear word like “piss” is, so asking where it is shouldn’t cause any offense… but it does? why? As others have said, I don’t think it caused offense, just brief confusion. Since Americans consider the word “toilet” to mean the procelain fixture, it would be like asking a waiter where the urinal is. He was probably thinking “In the restroom, of course.” On the other hand, if you’re in a nice restaurant, it’s probably a little crass to refer to the specific fixture, which brings up mental images of bodily functions, instead of referring to the room that we have a perfectly good euphemism or two for. > [@Mister\_Owl](#): > > Oh, go ahead and get really strange looks by using the term that “WC” is the abbreviation for, water closet. In my experience, both “WC” and “water closet” are almost unheard-of in the US. I’d guess that more people would know what you mean when you ask for the “water closet” than if you ask for the “WC.” With water closet, they could figure out it’s a euphemism, but with WC, they wouldn’t know what the hell you are talking about. I’m probably among the older ones here (48), and I’ve never heard that term in the wild, only read about it. By the way, wasn’t it Perry Como who lost his job as the Tonight Show host because he said the term “WC”? It must be an archaic term if it’s so old that it predates me. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/65 "2009-06-29T21:58:46Z")
“Toot” and “Loo” are probably the two term I hear most often after plain old toilet. “I’m just going to the toot” - rhymes with foot, not hoot. “Can I just borrow your loo for a second?”. “As long as you bring it back!”. ---
**Author:** ![Godfrey\_Daniels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Godfrey\_Daniels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Godfrey_Daniels)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/66 "2009-06-29T22:05:15Z")
I use “men’s room”, and quite often hear females refer to the “lady’s room”. However, I kind of like “lavatory” and will probably use that in the future. Concise, and polite. I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/67 "2009-06-29T22:39:37Z")
You’re not nearly the oldest one here, CurtC, and the fact that you’ve confused Jack Paar and Perry Como shows it. (Those two people are _really_ different.) Here’s the joke that Jack Paar told: > **[TV Acres](https://www.tvacres.com/)** > > Best General News Website 2023 ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/68 "2009-06-29T23:12:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The usual furnishings in an American house are 1-2 rooms with a full suite of plumbing (bathtub-with-shower, toilet, sink), plus another 1-2 rooms with just the toilet and sink. In real estate contexts (where you’d be describing how many bathrooms a house has), the former are referred to as “bathrooms”, and the latter as “half-baths”. One will occasionally also see a “three-quarters-bath”, which has a toilet, sink, and shower stall (but no tub). I don’t think I’ve ever seen a room in a US house with a bathtub or shower stall which did not also have a toilet. The house my Dad lives in is located in San Jose, CA. Go upstairs, and there’s a long hallway. Turn left, and the first door on your right opens to a small room that has a bathtub/shower. That’s all that’s in that room, unless you count the towel racks. The second door on the right (i.e. the room right next to it) has a toilet, sink, vanity and mirror (and more towel racks). Two completely separate rooms, full wall between, separate doors. It was like that when he bought the house, and every indication is that the house was built that way. I’ll admit, though, that I’ve never seen any other house with separate rooms like that. Beyond that, this whole discussion seems silly. We’re talking about mores and etiquette, people are expecting something rational? Why are **any** words considered more or less polite or acceptable than any others? Why can a person on US TV say “That’s a big freakin’ wave!”, but if he says “That’s a big fuckin’ wave!” the fourth word has to be bleeped over? Can anyone honestly say that there is a rational reason why “freakin’” is ok to go over the airwaves but “fuckin’” isn’t? Especially in a context where it serves only as a modifier, and does not in any way pertain to the act of sexual intercourse? Somewhere back in time, some people in this country just decided that “toilet” was lower class than “restroom”, and that’s the way it is. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/69 "2009-06-29T23:17:29Z")
> [@mazinger\_z](#): > > If I ask for the toilet, I cannot ask that in any other way that I imply that I’m going to do something most foul to it; and, – even with the straightest face – I’ll probably be thinking that as well as trying to perceive if you believe that I will be doing something most foul to said apparatus (i.e. taking the dump to end all mankind). Someone asked this early but I don’t think it was addressed. Why does toilet imply having a shit? Most people urinate into a toilet far more often than they poo in them, also most people will hold off taking a dump until they’re at home, so the most likely thing someone is going to do in a foreign bathroom is urinate. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/70 "2009-06-30T00:44:40Z")
[quote=“1920s Style “Death Ray”, post:69, topic:501329”] Someone asked this early but I don’t think it was addressed. Why does toilet imply having a shit? Most people urinate into a toilet far more often than they poo in them, also most people will hold off taking a dump until they’re at home, so the most likely thing someone is going to do in a foreign bathroom is urinate. [/QUOTE] For women and public bathrooms, this might be true, but most men will pee in a urinal, not a toilet. Not all, but enough that if a man in the US asked a waiter “where’s the toilet?” thinking “he’s got to crap” is going to be a reasonable jump. > [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Signs with the word toilet are in use in the USA too. Most text signs are now replaced with icons and gender label. Cite, on either of these? I’ve never seen toilet on a sign in the USA, other than maybe in a store selling fixtures or something alone those lines. Certainly never in directing people to a place to urinate/deficate. The only way I could ever see something like that happening is if an immigrant not yet familiar with American customs had it written on a sign for his store/restaurant. Are you frequenting a lot of immigrant owned businesses? And MOST text signs now replaced with icons? Some are replaced sure, but I’d highly doubt it’s most without some sort of statistical study showing this is the norm. If anything, I’d say based on my experience they still tend towards text, or occasionally having icons with text under them. Very few that I’ve ever encountered are just the icons. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/71 "2009-06-30T01:00:17Z")
Here’s an experiment to try: Go to an American home improvement/hardware store (like Home Depot or Menard’s) and ask someone who works there where the toilets are. I’m guessing they’d direct you to the part of the store where plumbing fixtures are sold, not the public restrooms. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/72 "2009-06-30T01:04:50Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Here’s an experiment to try: Go to an American home improvement/hardware store (like Home Depot or Menard’s) and ask someone who works there where the toilets are. I’m guessing they’d direct you to the part of the store where plumbing fixtures are sold, not the public restrooms. That’s why I’d ask for “the shitter” in that situation. Take _that_, you guileless Continentals. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/73 "2009-06-30T01:15:31Z")
> [@Roadfood](#): > > Beyond that, this whole discussion seems silly. We’re talking about mores and etiquette, people are expecting something rational? Why are **any** words considered more or less polite or acceptable than any others? Exactly. I’d say water closet and restroom make equal amounts of sense. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/74 "2009-06-30T01:43:19Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Cite, on either of these? > > I’ve never seen toilet on a sign in the USA… There are signs in the New York Subways that have “TOILETS” with an arrow. Here’s a link and the referring page. Men’s Toilet [http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/nostalgia2/sign\_nyc\_coney\_mens.jpg](http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/nostalgia2/sign_nyc_coney_mens.jpg) [http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/nostalgia2/stillwell.html](http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/nostalgia2/stillwell.html) With the caption “The direct language of mid-20th century signage is missed. You never see the word toilet anywhere any more. Pictographs have replaced such bourgeois nomenclature.” And another: To Toilets [http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Subway%20signs%2C%20outdated/toilets.jpg](http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Subway%20signs%2C%20outdated/toilets.jpg) [http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Subway%20signs%2C%20outdated/oldsigns.html](http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Subway%20signs%2C%20outdated/oldsigns.html) ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/75 "2009-06-30T02:58:30Z")
> [@jasonh300](#): > > There are signs in the New York Subways that have “TOILETS” with an arrow. > > Here’s a link and the referring page. > > Men’s Toilet > [http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/nostalgia2/sign\_nyc\_coney\_mens.jpg](http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/nostalgia2/sign_nyc_coney_mens.jpg) > [http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/nostalgia2/stillwell.html](http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/nostalgia2/stillwell.html) > > With the caption “The direct language of mid-20th century signage is missed. You never see the word toilet anywhere any more. Pictographs have replaced such bourgeois nomenclature.” > > And another: > > To Toilets > [http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Subway%20signs%2C%20outdated/toilets.jpg](http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Subway%20signs%2C%20outdated/toilets.jpg) > [http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Subway%20signs%2C%20outdated/oldsigns.html](http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Subway%20signs%2C%20outdated/oldsigns.html) It’s a good thing you did that, because I sure wasn’t going to run to all the toilets in the city looking to take a picture for this thread. Not everything is on the internet, and most of the signs I see in public buildings are one of the things that don’t have pictures on the internet. Like I said the old signs have mostly been replaced by the icon with the gender and braille now a days without any other text. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/76 "2009-06-30T03:04:37Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > You want to take a bath? Would a shower do? This is a restaurant; we don’t have bathing facilities. Oh? You want to shit? Then you need the toilet which is in this room all by itself. > “Rest?” are you tired? You can rest right where you are. We can even bring you a pillow. Oh, my! You’ve pointed out something inexplicable and arbitrary in the science of manners! How shocking! (Sorry, I’m feeling really snarky tonight for some reason.) It’s just a simple matter of politeness, and there is often no explanation for what things are polite or why. It just is. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/77 "2009-06-30T03:08:29Z")
to answer a previous question, I don’t think anyone in Australia / UK would be offended at “where are the urinals?”… yeah in fact you might ask that at a big concert for example because the Urinals and the portaloos might be in a different spot and the urinals would have a shorter line. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/78 "2009-06-30T03:09:20Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > For me a “restroom” would have to contain a bed or a couch so I can have a little lie-down. That happened to me in the early 90’s in Japan. We Brits had had it drilled into us that we should use the American form for asking teachers at our schools where the toilets were, as they might not know, or be offended by the British form. So, first school - a boy’s school with all male teachers and me. Suddenly five minutes before class I needed to go. Remembered my manners and asked to be shown the restroom. We walked to the far end of the school to a room that had some futons and tatami mats. AUGGGH! By now we were very late for class and I had to blurt out, “No, where’s the TOILET” and be shown aaaaaaaalllllll the way to the other end of the school before I could actually go. Never again. I’ll be crass and get it right the first time. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/79 "2009-06-30T06:58:08Z")
So on review of this thread I’m wondering if “washroom” is just a Canadian thing. It’s so polite and euphemistic. You’re not going in there to drop small mushroom clouds, you’re going in to wash up! ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329/80 "2009-06-30T07:04:16Z")
Go into any pub in the UK and ask: “Where’s the bogs/khazi/stones/toilet/any other slang expression” Someone will tell you provided the end the question with “mate” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-big-deal-with-the-word-toilet-in-the-us/501329.md?page=5)